Barcelona B could not carry on with their winning form and succumbed to defeat against Murcia at the Estadio Nueva Condomina yesterday. Eusebio’s players seemed to have the three points all but secure in their pockets, but Murcia came back with a spectacular 5-minute comeback to overturn Dongou’s first half goal. They scored the equalizer 6 minutes from time, went ahead on 87 minutes, and sealed the win with a last-minute penalty.

This defeat interrupts Barça B’s momentum, and pushes them back in the battle against relegation, as the team is now again in 17th place, with 22 points, 1 point above from 19th placed Sabadell and 5 from bottom placed Real Madrid Castilla. Barça B players should not feel ashamed of themselves as they did have a good game and could have easily gone 2-0 up. However they didn’t, and so now they must focus on returning to winning ways next week at the Miniestadi against Sporting Gijón.

Eusebio made two changes to his starting lineup compared to the one he used in last week’s victory against Sabadell, both of them being quite surprise ones. Edgar Ié, who had not played a single competitive game since August after being sidelined due to injury, got the nod in defence, starting ahead of Franck Bagnack. Meanwhile, Eusebio inexplicably opted not to start Dani Nieto, who had been so good over the past few weeks, and started Dongou instead.

Despite of the unexpected changes, the young Blaugranas started the match very well, dominating proceedings right away. The team circulated the ball nicely and neatly, poking for an opener. They could not create the breakthrough initially, but only half chances. Yet as time went on the opener looked imminent. Jean Marie Dongou grabbed it on 32 minutes, after nicely bringing down a long ball, rounding Casto, and coolly netting the ball. The goal was preceded by a nice one-two played between Denis and Sanabria.

Conceding the opener did not go down well with the home supporters, who made their feelings known to their players. Los Pimentoneros had been without a win for 2 months, and so the crowd could nothing else but boo the players in frustration watching a ‘bunch of youngsters’ staging a footballing exhibition in their own back yard. The round of disapproval by the home crowd served its purpose well, as it brought Julio Velasquez’ players to life. The hosts started attacking with more intensity and came close to equalising on a couple of occasions. In the greatest one, the league’s third top scorer Kike García inexplicably sent a golden chance to the skies from a meter out, after Ortolá had saved Tete’s shot. The half drew to a close with the visitors in the lead.

After the break, the hosts looked more determined to get the equaliser than ever, pushing more and more men forward. They had a good chance wasted shortly after the restart, with Eddy shooting wide following a great solo run by Tete. However, the Barça reserves stood firm and soon took control of possession. Jean Marie Dongou had a couple of chances to make it 2-0 but failed both. He first shot over while being well placed, and then drew a good save from Casto. The hosts responded to the visitors’ surge by laying siege on Ortolá’s goal. Molinero first shot over from a Malonga pass, Kike García then fired just wide with a shot just outside the box. Shortly after, Murcia centre-back Dos Santos failed to connect with a cross while being unmarked in the six-yard box.

The match was increasingly turning into an end-to-end spectacle, with Casto being called to action at the other end to literally keep the hosts in contention. The home keeper futher widening of Barça B’s lead with a superb point-blank save on Toni Sanabria. In the very next phase of play, Murcia equalised. A corner taken by former Barça B winger Saúl Berjón was headed home by Kike on 84 minutes.

With momentum on their side, Murcia kept on pushing and searching for the go ahead goal. It was eventually gifted to them by Franck Bagnack who had come on for the injured Ié on 43 minutes. He lost possession without being under pressure, allowing the substitute to fire home unmarked, on 87 minutes. Eusebio’s boys kept trying, but were condemned to defeat by a last-minute penalty conceded by Sergi Samper. Saúl stepped up to take the spot kick and punished his former team, slotting the ball home on 90 minutes.